David Cameron faces pressure over Tory councillor's 'racist' comments about school for inner-city pupils

David Cameron is under pressure to expel a Tory councillor who sparked a race
row by complaining about inner-city pupils from ethnic minorities being sent
to a new state boarding school in the countryside.

John Cherry, a Conservative member of West Sussex County Council, said some nationalities did not appreciate hard work and suggested that the school would be a “sexual volcano”.

The planned school in the South Downs National Park will educate about 600 students from a deprived area of South London, who will board there for free from Monday to Friday and return home for the weekend.

However, villagers living near the site are fighting the proposal, saying that it will spoil the natural beauty of the area and cause major disruption to the local community.

Mr Cherry, 73, questioned whether it was right to “pluck” the students from their “natural surroundings”.

“Ninety-seven per cent of pupils will be black or Asian. It depends what type of Asian. If they're Chinese they'll rise to the top. If they're Indian they'll rise to the top. If they're Pakistani they won't,” he told The Mail on Sunday.

“David Cameron must condemn his councillor's words and take immediate action against Councillor Cherry to show that he will not accept racism in his party,” he added.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “These comments are totally unacceptable and do not reflect the views of the Conservative Party and we are investigating.”

A Tory source added that moves to suspend Mr Cherry were under way.

Durand Academy, a high-achieving primary in Stockwell, South London, bought a former boarding school for children with special needs in Stedham, West Sussex, in 2010 for £3.4 million.

It wants to transform the site into a new state secondary school that will offer pupils aged 13 to 18 from difficult backgrounds an outstanding education as well as keeping them safe from drugs and knife crime.

Greg Martin, Durand's executive head, said he had been “appalled” by the comments made by a minority of residents opposed to the project.

“We know that this school will change life opportunities for children, but we also really want the community to be proud of it and to support it,” he said.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has visited Durand Academy several times, and in 2011 hailed it as an “outstanding” school that had made “amazing strides forward.

The Department of Education, which is providing more than £17 million to help develop the new boarding school, said in a statement on Sunday: “Durand's boarding school is a bold experiment and a chance to give inner-city youngsters a truly world-class education.

“It is difficult to believe that anyone would want to obstruct such an inspirational project."

Anne Reynolds, chairman of the local parish council, said Mr Cherry’s comments did not reflect the concerns of people fighting the development

“There isn’t any evidence that this is going to improve these children’s life chances. If it goes through, we feel it will be an example of top-down Government,” she said.

South Downs National Park Authority is expected to make a decision on the proposal by mid-July. Mr Cherry was not available for comment on Sunday.